All right, here's some food for thought for ya. The town of Gabrovo, located in Upper Central Bulgaria, used to be the hub of the textile industry on the Balkans in the 80s (in the last years of communism) and the early 90s (the first years of democracy). Some of the most innovative and modern facilities both for constructing textile machines and textile itself were stationed there. These enterprises were what had traditionally made the town a major urban center in the region ever since the mid 19th century, to a point where it became the biggest and most prosperous part of Upper Central Bulgaria.
Enter democracy, and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. These industries were already making efforts to adapt their production to the new realities of Eastern Europe, trying to secure some of their traditional markets for the decades to come. And for a time, things were looking promising.
What happened next? A bunch of US companies stepped in, promising substantial investments in the area, and vowing to continue developing the traditionally strong textile industry in the Gabrovo district. But, as soon as they took over the major machine plants and textile enterprises there, people witnessed with bewilderment how those began to be shut down one after another. There were literally heaps of machines being piled at the scrapheap and cut to pieces, the whole industry virtually destroyed within a couple of years. The government of Ivan Kostov, now widely known as "the guy who sold us out to the West" (long story) authorized this mid-day robbery of what was one of the trademark industries of the Bulgarian economy.
Now the town of Gabrovo barely has 1/3 of the population it had back then, unemployment is rampant, most of its young labor force having fled either to the city of Sofia, or even abroad, in search of greener pastures. No trace of our textile-machine industry and textile production. Now Bulgarians buy crappy junk that passes for "clothes" either from neighboring Turkey, or from US brands that have been outsourced to Thailand, India, China and Bangladesh.
But of course that's not a conspiracy. It's just the "free market". Right?
And this was just one of many examples of technologies and industries being either suppressed or outright decapitated from the position of financial and economic power by the big fish. And don't even get me started on our arms industry, which for a long time used to be among the leading on the planet, only to get tossed at the scrapheap in a similar fashion, after that same Ivan Kostov agreed with the demands of the West that, in order to become a NATO member, my country would have to fulfill some pretty severe conditions - like erase its entire arms industry, and become completely dependent on our Western "brothers" from France, UK and the US.
I say yay for non-conspirative free-market!
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Date: 23/12/13 22:51 (UTC)Enter democracy, and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. These industries were already making efforts to adapt their production to the new realities of Eastern Europe, trying to secure some of their traditional markets for the decades to come. And for a time, things were looking promising.
What happened next? A bunch of US companies stepped in, promising substantial investments in the area, and vowing to continue developing the traditionally strong textile industry in the Gabrovo district. But, as soon as they took over the major machine plants and textile enterprises there, people witnessed with bewilderment how those began to be shut down one after another. There were literally heaps of machines being piled at the scrapheap and cut to pieces, the whole industry virtually destroyed within a couple of years. The government of Ivan Kostov, now widely known as "the guy who sold us out to the West" (long story) authorized this mid-day robbery of what was one of the trademark industries of the Bulgarian economy.
Now the town of Gabrovo barely has 1/3 of the population it had back then, unemployment is rampant, most of its young labor force having fled either to the city of Sofia, or even abroad, in search of greener pastures. No trace of our textile-machine industry and textile production. Now Bulgarians buy crappy junk that passes for "clothes" either from neighboring Turkey, or from US brands that have been outsourced to Thailand, India, China and Bangladesh.
But of course that's not a conspiracy. It's just the "free market". Right?
And this was just one of many examples of technologies and industries being either suppressed or outright decapitated from the position of financial and economic power by the big fish. And don't even get me started on our arms industry, which for a long time used to be among the leading on the planet, only to get tossed at the scrapheap in a similar fashion, after that same Ivan Kostov agreed with the demands of the West that, in order to become a NATO member, my country would have to fulfill some pretty severe conditions - like erase its entire arms industry, and become completely dependent on our Western "brothers" from France, UK and the US.
I say yay for non-conspirative free-market!